NEET effect: Panel to suggest reforms to make NTA’s exam system more robust

A team of experts headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan has been set up to recommend reforms that will unveil a system to ensure transparent, smooth, and fair conduct of examinations.

The education ministry said the panel will make recommendations in the examination process, improvement in data security protocol, and the structure and functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The announcement follows a huge row sparked by the irregularities that cropped up following the NEET examination, triggering student protests across the country.

Report in 2 months

The committee will submit its report to the education ministry within two months, an official announcement said.

The other members of the panel will be former AIIMS (Delhi) director Randeep Guleria, Central University of Hyderabad Vice-Chancellor BJ Rao, Prof K Ramamurthy of IIT Madras, Pankaj Bansal, IIT Delhi (Dean) Aditya Mittal, and Govind Jaiswal from the education ministry.

Greater efficiency

The committee will analyse the end-to-end examination process and suggest measures to improve efficiency of the system and to forestall any possible breach.

It will also conduct a thorough review of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and protocols of the NTA and suggest steps to strengthen them along with a monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance at every level.

Data security

The experts will evaluate the existing data security processes and protocols of NTA and recommend measures for their improvement.

They will also examine existing security protocols related to the paper-setting and other processes for different examinations and make recommendations to enhance robustness of system.

NTA's functioning

The panel will make recommendations on the organizational structure and functioning of the NTA by clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the functionaries at every level so that all recommendations can be implemented efficiently.

It will also assess the grievance redress mechanism of the NTA, identify areas of improvement, and make recommendations for enhancing its efficiency.